There is a way you can get 2016 off to a great start and then build on the momentum going forward.

Here are 10 ways to close faster for more sales in 2016:

1. Quit spending time with prospects who don’t fit your customer profile.

If you want to be seen as a high-value full-price provider, then you want to attract customers who fit that profile. You want to steer clear of customers who will never fit that profile.

As I like to say, “You can’t turn a Walmart shopper into a Nordstrom’s customer.” Just because a prospect is wiling to talk to you doesn’t mean they’re a good prospect.

2. Spend more time with fewer prospects.

We all spend too much time chasing prospects who wind up going nowhere. Qualify prospects fast to allow you to eliminate from your schedule those prospects who are doing nothing more than taking up your time.

3. Don’t become a “customer service ninja.”

Customer service is great, but is it the best use of your time? I’m not looking to blow off customers, but what I want to do is to not have existing customers taking up so much of my time that I don’t have any time left to get new customers.

4. Make it easy for your customers to buy from you.

My position is that I would rather sell the customer something fast than take an inordinate amount of time to maybe sell them something big. “Sell quick and sell up” is a good approach.

5. Make it your objective to minimally get more pieces of new business out of each existing customer.

Getting more business from existing customers is almost always easier than trying to land the new account. Don’t pass up opportunities in your existing accounts.

6. Refocus your efforts on any customer who is not actively buying from you.

Don’t kid yourself into thinking they’ll never buy from you again. Remember they already know you, so that means you’re that much farther along in getting them to buy again.

7. Spend less time doing anything other than qualifying prospects, uncovering needs, and getting the customer to “yes.”

Quit thinking you have to be the most knowledgeable person on this new item or this new technical report. Your most valuable asset you have is your time and you want to use as much of it as possible truly selling.

8. Increase the frequency with which you ask for referrals.

Doesn’t it make sense to ask for referrals? Because they already buy from you, your customers already know what you can do for others. Take advantage of what and who your customers know.

9. If credit is a problem with your prospects, qualify them early in the prospecting process.

Too many sales are lost at the last minute due to a customer not having credit or some other issue. If this is happening to you, get it taken care of early in the prospecting phase. In the end, you’ll be saving yourself time and you’ll be saving your customer grief.

10. Increase the amount of time you spend in the 1^st quarter prospecting to give yourself a full pipeline you can work to close as the year progresses.

It’s all about what you’re going to do this upcoming year. The more prospects you have early in the year, the more opportunities you’ll have to close more sales. January prospects are always better than December prospects!

Copyright 2015, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale Without Compromising on Price.

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